Mars Exploration Rover

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission (since 2003) is an unmanned Mars exploration mission that includes sending two Rovers (robots) to explore the Martian surface and geology. The mission was led by Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Principal Investigator Steven Squyres, professor of astronomy at Cornell University.

Timeline

The MER-A rover, Spirit, was launched on June 10, 2003 at 17:59 GMT, and MER-B, Opportunity, on July 7, 2003 at 15:18 GMT. Spirit landed in Gusev crater on January 3, 2004 at 04:35 GMT. Opportunity landed in the Meridiani Planum on the opposite side of Mars from Spirit, on January 25, 2004 01:05 GMT. In the week following Spirit's landing, NASA's website recorded 1.7 billion hits and 34.6 terabytes of data transferred, eclipsing records set by previous NASA missions.

Related Topics:
MER-A rover, ''Spirit'' - June 10 - 2003 - GMT - MER-B, ''Opportunity'' - July 7 - Gusev crater - January 3 - 2004 - Meridiani Planum - January 25 - Billion - Terabyte

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On January 21, the Deep Space Network lost contact with the Spirit rover, for reasons originally thought to be related to a thunderstorm over Australia. The rover transmitted a message with no data on Wednesday the 21st, but the Spirit rover missed another communications session with the Mars Global Surveyor later that day. JPL succeeded on Thursday the 22nd in receiving a beep from the rover, indicating that it was in fault mode. On the 23rd, the flight team succeeded in getting the rover to send back data. As a consequence of the fault, believed to have been caused by an error in the rover's Flash memory subsystem, the rover was unable to perform any science for 10 days, while engineers updated its software and ran tests. The problem was corrected by reformatting Spirit's flash memory and upgrading the software with a patch to avoid memory overload, Opportunity was also upgraded with the same patch for safe measure. Spirit was returned to full scientific operations by 5 February. This was to date the most serious anomaly in the mission.

Related Topics:
January 21 - Deep Space Network - Thunderstorm - Australia - Mars Global Surveyor - JPL - Flash memory - 5 February

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On March 23rd, a news conference was held revealing what were announced to be "major discoveries", in the search for hints of past liquid water on the Martian surface.

Related Topics:
March 23 - Water

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A delegation of the science team showed pictures and data revealing a stratification pattern and cross bedding within the rocks in the outcrop inside a crater in Meridiani Planum, landing site of the MER-B, Opportunity Rover, suggesting a history of flowing water in the region. The irregular distribution of chlorine and bromine also suggests that the rover sat in a place that once had been the shoreline of a salty sea, now evaporated.

Related Topics:
Meridiani Planum - MER-B, ''Opportunity'' - Water - Chlorine - Bromine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On April 8, 2004, NASA announced that it was extending the mission life of the rovers from 3 months to 8 months. The extension provided an immediate additional US $15 million in funding through September, as well as $2.8 million per month for continuing operations.

Related Topics:
April 8 - 2004

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On April 30, 2004, Opportunity arrived at Endurance crater, taking about 5 days to drive the 200 metres.

Related Topics:
April 30 - 2004 - Endurance crater

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On September 22, 2004, NASA announced that it was extending the mission life of the rovers for another 6 months. Opportunity was to leave Endurance crater, visit its discarded heat shield, and then proceed to Victoria crater. Spirit was to attempt to climb to the top of the Columbia Hills.

Related Topics:
September 22 - 2004 - Victoria crater - Columbia Hills

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On April 6, 2005, with the two rovers still functioning well, NASA announced an additional 18 month extension of the mission to September 2006. Opportunity is to visit the "Etched Terrain" and Spirit is to climb a rocky slope toward the top of "Husband Hill."

Related Topics:
April 6 - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On August 21, 2005, Spirit summitted "Husband Hill" after 581 sols and a drive of 4.81 kilometers (2.99 mi). At the beginning of the mission, it was not expected that Spirit or Opportunity would last much longer than ninety days and the Columbia hills were "just a dream" according to rover driver Chris Leger. As of August 21, Spirit has lasted more than 490 sols past its 'warranty' of 90 days, and Opportunity more than 470.

Related Topics:
August 21 - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~